Portsmouth weather: Cold health alert issued over city and UK as freezing conditions create risk to mortality

The forecaster said plummeting conditions are causing a risk to mortality. An amber alert has been issued across Portsmouth, the South East of England and the rest of the country.

It is set to last until 12pm on Saturday, January 20. The Met Office said: "Severe impacts are possible across the health and social care sector due to forecast weather conditions." The forecaster added that the weather could cause an "increased risk of mortality, across the whole population with specific mortality observed in older age groups", "increased demand on all health and social care services" and "impact on the delivery of services".

It is expected to be hard to maintain indoor temperatures of 18C, which the Met Office said will become challenging for vulnerable people. National "critical infrastructure failures" are expected, the forecaster said, which includes generator failures, power outages and other problems.

The cold spell is expected to continue throughout the week and into the early part of Saturday. Clear skies and sunny spells are forecast throughout, with a lack of sleet or snow. Wintry showers are expected for several other parts of the UK.

Temperatures will fall to -2C between 3am and 9am tomorrow morning in Portsmouth - with peaks of 4C by 2pm. It is still expected to be cold in the evening, levelling off at 3C but will feel more like 0C.